144 [Intermission] Our Last Banquet Together (3)

"Did it scream?" Liliath asked-- for some reason.

Wendy nodded.

"Qui wasn't there at that time so Qui didn't know. Qui." The rabbit nodded to itself-- is it just me or should I pity the rabbit that doesn't know it's being used.. You know what? Better not think too much about it.

"So next would be the four main protagonists," Eunice said. "So which of the four of you wants to narrate first?"

"Then I'll go," Prune raised her hand, her ears perked up and tail swaying, 'It also happened when I just got my TALENT. I, who was just a normal human before became a half-wolf, or demi-human, as some would call."

"Oh right. I forgot that Prune once had black hair," Wake said.

"And this transformation forced me to change a lot of my daily habits-- it's very troublesome to clean this tail you know? Even clothes had to be tailored before I could wear it," Prune hugged her tail tighter, "Another thing that changed was my heightened instinct-- I think. Everything became either very comfortable or scary. There was this one time I worked at my restaurant and noticed that an old man was staring at me with-- that kind of look."

"That's too bad. Who wouldn't, you have silver hair and even a tail," Kai said.

"You can never understand someone else's fetish, that's just how the world works," Nine shook her head with a dubious smile.

"I became quite anxious in the beginning, and it was difficult to control my emotions. I even got into an argument with Liliath during those days."

"Isn't that because you were.. sorry."

Liliath's words were cut off when Prune glared at her. How scary.

"Ahem. So that aside, the most interesting thing was probably when my mom came to brush my tail with a comb."

"Hah! I found your weakness!" Nine exclaimed.

"What weakness?" Prune looked genuinely confused.

"Noel, you better buy yourself a good comb for Prune-- nevermind."

Again, Nine stopped because of Prune's glare, even her canines were showing. Scary~

"Your tail is an erogenous zone?" Eunice asked.

"What's that?" Prune replied back.

"""Eh--"""

She doesn't know that?

"W-what?" Prunes stiffened.

"So innocent, so pure. Noel, you did a great job living up to the legal contract," Nine said.

"Of course. No one wants to get sued after all.."

"I don't get where this is going," Voux, who couldn't understand the conversation said.

"To wrap things up, the act of combing your tail is the most interesting part about your TALENT, correct?" Liliath tried to get things back on track.

Prune nodded.

"Next up is me then, everyone alright with that," Nine said, standing up and then stretching her back.

The group agreed without any issues.

"Not everyone here knows my TALENT right? Raise your hands if you don't know my TALENT."

Wendy, Eunice, Voux and Wake raised their hands.

"Now watch closely," Nine grinned, his voice changed mid-way together with his shortened hair. It was only for a few seconds, but during those excruciatingly cringy seconds, Nine did a 'wonderful' twirl before turning back into a girl. She's wearing a dress, mind you.

"What the hell was that?!" Eunice was the first one to shout.

"What did I see.. what did I see.. What did I see" Wake eye's lost focus.

"Oh.. I think I get it now. So that's why she shouldn't go to the girl's toilet," Voux's question from almost a month ago was finally answered.

As for Wendy, she said nothing. Her expression was as normal as ever. Qui remained silent.

"Now to talk about the most interesting and weird incident I've encountered. Back when I was still in my previous school, when I realized I could change into a female, I wanted to make a fool of myself in class. So I got myself a female school uniform and went to school as a female. The kind of reaction I got when I took a seat at my own seat, some of them didn't even recognize me, but my face is pretty whether I'm male or female right?" Nine asked.

"Actually, I think it's due to the impression of both genders. You're very gloomy as a male, so maybe it's because of the shift in mood that made it hard to recognize. People look different with a smile-- I think that's how it is?" I said.

"Make sense, make sense," Nine nodded as if accepting the theory, "So the entire school learnt that my TALENT is changing genders, and because of this, people started approaching me and I got a lot of attention. Then two people came and confessed to me."

"Can I guess," Wendy said after a long period of silence.

"Yes?"

"One if male, the other is female."

"How did you know? That's right."

"It's a guess."

"So both of them were willing to accept me whatever gender it was-- one of them was my friend you know? I totally freaked out back then," Nine grimaced, " And then the girl, who I wasn't all that close with had her friend pass me a love letter. Which made me wonder if same sex atraction is a thing, that's how I started learning aboaut the LGBT movement. Since I have this weird dual gender body. "

"Wow. That's actually a pretty good story," Voux said.

"So the girl is a lesbian?" Kai asked.

"Yes and no. She had been attracted to me since the beginning of that year, before I could change between male and female. You could say she doesn't mind the female me since she likes the male me.. that kind of situation. So, are there any more questions?"

"Yes, so you're a male originally, right?" Wake asked.

"Yup," Nine stuck out her proud chest.

"Then.. why female? Isn't it worse? You have to deal with the monthly.. those things right?"

"It's quite a complicated reason, I'll tell you about it if there's time. Noel, Prune and Liliath probably know about it, but it's basically to do with the neurological aspect of each of my genders."

About how Nine feels different due to the different genders because of the different neurological wiring and habits.

"If there are no questions then we shall pass it to the last two?" Nine said, pointing at me and Liliath alternately.

"Liliath doesn't have a TALENT does she?" Eunice asked, "It's a different system right?"

"Doesn't matter, Liliath probably has an interesting story to tell," Kai replied.

"So who goes first? I asked.

"How about you?" Liliath replied.

"Okay then.."

The most interesting, or weirdest thing that ever happened because of my TALENT huh? There's actually a lot to choose from but if I were to pick one..

Just one..

"It's probably Liliath," I said, "Just Liliath. The fact that my TALENT brought her here is probably the weirdest and most interesting thing that happened till now."

An otherworld princess, other world princess, ex-slave, an individual betrayed by her world, my lover which shouldn't have existed to begin with...

"That's it?" Eunice said.

"Yeah. Like that time she read porn openly in school, the time I realized she was a demon, that time I got to learn magic from here but couldn't use it, that time she nearly died in the hospital-- if I were to choose one from among so many, it would be that event at the very beginning when Liliath appeared from a summoning circle from my room. It's not everyday you'd see a girl appear in your room right?"

"That's so sweet.. you're not doing it intentionally are you?" Saria raised her eyebrow, bringing herself to hug Liliath from the side.

"I'm serious about that though," seriously serious.

"Thank you Noel. I too am grateful to be here too," Liliath flashed a nostalgic smile, making me recall all those incidents we've had since she arrived in this world.

"Now to you Liliath, what's your story?" I said, showing her a smile of my own.

"Yeah. Any story since you basically grew up with something like a TALENT since you were born," Kai said.

"Slaying dragons or assassins or something--" Eunice said something pretty dangerous there; she was eager to know what kind of life Liliath had.

Liliath laughed a little before finally saying those words she had kept locked in her heart.

"It may seem hard to believe, but the most interesting things I've encountered were not from my world but from this. There's too many to name, however, if I were to pick one, it would be this moment right now. To be able to drink tea with so many friends, with no ulterior motive and just enjoying ourselves. How we're gathered here, spending time together.. how there's peace and joy, rare squirmish, no grudges or conflicts that don't last through the eras.. "

Her words gradually became emotional

"I'm grateful-- for everything, everyone. Sharing stories, and life experiences. Life wouldn't have been the same without you all.."

Smiling, a teardrop fell from her eyes.

"Thank you. Thank you for being part of my life."